Late July, we hopped on a plane and arrived safely in Sacramento,
California. At my request demand, Chipotle was our first stop. There we
showed no restraint, gorging on crunchy tacos filled with melt-like-butter barbacoa beef and lime dusted
corn chips with guacamole. Did I mention we ate without restraint? That pretty
much characterizes our month of good California eating, socializing, and
playing like children with $100 in a candy store. Without restraint.

We slid into our old California ways as naturally as a hotdog slides
into its bun. A Starbucks coffee here. Two pints of beer there. Oh, don’t
forget the extra tart frozen yogurt topped with almonds and Heath crumbles.
Extra sour cream on that burrito please. One platter of paella with a bottle of
red wine. Dessert? Of course, and make that extra whipped cream. Sure, I will
eat another slice of pizza. Sorry, Joel, for eating all the blue cheese. Even
Taco Bell was a delicacy.

birdMAN's parents' freezer is stocked with Häagen-Dazs ice cream. How could I resist?

Shortly after I had arrived in California and had more than my share of
dessert, my fellow expat friend emailed me from China to warn me of American
weight gain. Her words came true. Along with my suitcase stocked with Paul
Mitchel hair products, Shout stain remover, Vitamin C, Tylenol PM, and See’s
candies, I also carried an extra ten pounds. Well, what did I expect? You
simply just can’t eat two full sized desserts along with a plate of cheese a
day for a month and expect no consequences.

I will take the roll with the lobster in it

We simply could not show much restraint due to the incredible
generosity of our friends and family. On two separate occasions, we gorged on
Burgers N’ Brew grilled-to-perfection jalapeno bacon cheese burgers while
catching up with longtime friends A&I, Jiefu, Milan, and lil’ Ziwen.
A&I attempted to fill the void in birdMAN’s beer heart with a field trip to
Lagunitas and Russian River Brewing. Magpie Café did not disappoint
serving up a savory fare of California freshness thanks to birdMAN’s parents
footing the bill. Along with my parents, we savored Mikuni’s barbeque albacore
and sushi rolls until we were busting at the seams.

Beer tasting at Lagunitas Brewing Company

birdMAN feels at home at Lagunitas

Of course, there is no place like home, especially a home filled with
good home-cooking. Rib-eye steak, filet mignon roast, pork tenderloin, or barbeque
chicken wings accompanied with cheesy potatoes and butter-soaked bread. So
delicious. We just could not stop eating. Some nights we went to bed so full of
home-cooked goodness that we felt sick. Unfortunately, I simply cannot list every occasion of hospitality; so I
hope we showed enough gratitude to every person who spoiled us with California
deliciousness.

Without restraint. Ten pounds lost in one year, and gained back in one
month.'

In addition to the food, we soaked up some good California sunshine poolside with the kids, biked along Lake Tahoe’s rim, listened to the Pacific’s steady waves in Carmel, returned to old hobbies like golfing, braved the crowds at Target and Costco, worked two days as a bona fide engineer, threw an anniversary party, etc., etc., etc.

Getting goofy with Lil' Ziwen

Despite the generosity of our friends and family and getting two free overnight trips to California hot destination spots, our pocketbook burned a pretty decent sized hole. We managed to spend more money in one month in California than four months living in China. America is expensive!

After one wonderful, spectacular month in the good ole’ U.S. of A, we
are back in Beijing. Beijing welcomed us with pristine blue skies, not-too-hot weather,
and a huge puddle of water in our living room from a clogged air conditioner drain
pipe. Well, that’s China for you.

One more year of restraint. One more year to lose 10 pounds. And next
summer, one month to gain it all back.

Thank you for the Californication! See you next summer!

Chinese word of the blog: 加利福尼亚Jiālìfúníyǎ

English
translation : California

Summer fun at the pool with the kids. Click HERE for more pictures of how we spent our summer vacation.